But neither side got much that they were happy with as the county grapples with a budget still millions of dollars out of balance.

While county leaders proposed 10 furlough days (to be taken on the last Friday of every month for 10 months), a different proposal goes to the board.

It will allow staffers to take six days either as furlough days or unused personal time off.

Two more days would be furlough days without pay and two currently paid holidays would be taken off as unpaid holidays.

Teamsters business agent Steve Mosely stressed that all of those days would only be for the first year of what likely will be approved as a three-year contract.

The county management team also agreed to drop a provision that would cut the pay of anyone in the union making $60,000 or more by 1.15 percent when it was determined that only three people fell into that category.

The commission has pushed for 5 percent pay cuts for anyone making more than $60,000.

The sides could not agree on the amount the county should contribute toward health insurance costs for single-employee coverage.

They agreed to take the last Teamster proposal to the board for consideration. It would be a county contribution of $630 per month for single employees and $720 per month for an employee plus others, cutting from three to two tiers of contribution.

That is down from the current $670 for single employees, $760 for an employee plus child or spouse, and $830 for employee plus family.

Cheryl Marsden, director of administrative services, said teams needed to settle on insurance amounts so human resources staffers could load needed information into county systems and open enrollment could be completed before new insurance would kick in Nov. 1.

The package will also include a drop in the amount of personal time off county employees can carry in their account from 720 hours to 600.

Existing employees would get to keep the excess between 600 and 720 in a separate account.

Barbara Behrendt can be reached at behrendt@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1434.